Author: NLM Correspondent

BY PHOEBE NADUPOI The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC) recently gazetted rules to control campaign spending. Of interest in the new regulations is the capping of spending for each elective position. For a presidential candidate, the limit is Sh5.25 billion whereas aspirants for gubernatorial, senate or women representative seats shall not exceed Sh33.4 million. Further, those seeking to be members of county assemblies can only spend up to Sh10.3 million. Whereas controlling campaign spending is a good thing, setting high limits for campaign financing has the potential to lock out many potential political leaders. These upper limits seem to…

Most tertiary institutions have listed among their graduate attributes the ability to think critically. This seems a desirable outcome, but what exactly does it mean to think critically and how do you get students to do it? The problem is that critical thinking is the Cheshire Cat of educational curricula – it is hinted at in all disciplines but appears fully formed in none. As soon as you push to see it in focus, it slips away. If you ask curriculum designers exactly how critical thinking skills are developed, the answers are often vague and unhelpful for those wanting to…

By Kelvin Njuguna Mugwe The African continent, it has been argued, and justifiably so, is inseparable with foetid traits. These include, but are not limited to, despicable governance, illiteracy and archaic practices, among others. This state of affairs has constantly prompted the proclamation of passionate messages of hope. A notion of imaginary progress is always meticulously draped in the messages in a rather garbled manner. The sad reality, however, is that Africa has remained hopeless and stagnant, and when it moves, it is mostly in a retrograde direction. Seldom are the times that substantial progress is made; yet even in…

BY PHOEBE NADUPOI 2016 KCPE and KCSE results will be highly anticipated. In the past, the credibility of the final examinations at both the primary and secondary school levels has not been guaranteed, and it has been an open secret that good grades were not a preserve of intellectually endowed students. Parents, teachers and students bought examination papers, and God knows what else might have gone on at Mtihani House. It is a shame how low we had sunk. Educationists had time and again queried how possible it was for, say, an entire class can get straight “A”s in total…

It is generally assumed that people can learn to be more rational. That’s the purpose of The Sequences (a series of multiple posts on the Less Wrong website on the same topic, to coherently and fully explore a particular thesis), after all. And veteran Less Wrongers (a community blog and forum focused on discussion of cognitive biases, philosophy, psychology, economics, rationality, and artificial intelligence, among other topics) do seem vastly more rational than the average person. But maybe it’s a selection effect: maybe Less Wrong doesn’t make people more rational, it’s just that the people who are already relatively rational…

By Tom Odhiambo Kenyans invest billions in education, yet many are sceptical of the value of schooling. It is common to hear Kenyans – who have taken loans to pay for their children’s school tuition – say that today’s schools, teachers and curricula are useless. Indeed, Kenyans talk about the value of education in Kenya today just as pervasively as they debate politics. Why this obsession with education? And is this concern peculiar to Kenya? No; it isn’t just Kenyans who worry every day that the school system isn’t worth the money spent on it. Across the border, Ugandans were…

A wash of greenery is spreading over the globe, from central Africa to Europe and South East Asia. One measurement found that between 1982 and 2009 about 18m square kilometres of new vegetation had sprouted on Earth’s surface, an area roughly twice the size of the United States. The growth in greenery is a consequence of climate change. As the planet heats up, places that were once too chilly for most plants to grow have become steadily more hospitable. That extra vegetation, in turn, exerts its own effects on the climate. According to a team led by Trevor Keenan of…

By Robert Okemwa Onsare I have been in and out of the university in the past 16 years as a student. These moments have been punctuated by working in telecommunication companies and the media as a technician and writer. Every time I am back in class, I usually reflect on the university’s curriculum and industrial requirements. Universities and the industry have distinctive roles; however there is a vast ground of convergence. In both, there is a quest to generate new knowledge, to innovate, to improve and use challenges as stepping-stones to confront the future. However, an insightful look on how…

By Alexander Opicho I enjoyed reading Tee Ngugi’s article published in the Saturday Nation of 11th November 2016. The author fiercely condemned African scholars in the generation of Wole Soyinka for having misled the continent of Africa through their irrelevant works of literature. Ngugi was reacting to Wolexit, a public declaration by Wole Soyinka that he would destroy his green card and exit or move out of America if Donald Trump won the presidential election. The writer looked at this as a shitty, thoughtless act that does not help Africa by way of intellectual leadership. Ngugi was partially right: Wolexit…

While the agricultural sector offers the greatest potential in improving livelihoods and reducing poverty for most East Africans, policy and technological challenges still exist in the sector. About 80 per cent of the population of East African Community (EAC) countries, living in rural communities dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. According to the African Development Bank, over 75 per cent of the total agricultural outputs in East Africa are produced by smallholder farmers with farm sizes of about 2.5 hectares on average, producing mainly for home-consumption, and using traditional technologies. With the sector dominated by smallholder farmers, member states should…